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William Lee
William Lee is the protagonist of the film Naked Lunch and the William S. Burroughs book of the same name. Lee is an exterminator who becomes addicted to his own bug powder and begins to believe he is a secret agent under the employment of a giant bug. The character of William Lee is largely based on that of Burroughs himself. Lee is portrayed in the film by Peter Weller. Events of Naked Lunch William Lee is an insect exterminator who lives in a run-down house with his wife Joan. After he runs out of bug powder in the middle of a job, Lee discovers that Joan has been stealing his powder to use as a recreational drug. Although initially disgusted by her actions, Lee ends up getting addicted to the powder as well. Lee gets arrested for drug use and, whilst in custody, he hallucinates a giant bug that introduces itself as Lee's "handler"; it claims that Lee is actually a secret agent and that his wife is a spy from "Interzone Incorporated" that must be assassinated. Disturbed, Lee swats the bug with his shoe and escapes from custody. A friend recommends that he visit one Dr. Benway to help combat his addiction, but Lee uses Benway's prescriptions to access more exotic drugs. Returning home one day, Lee finds his friends Hank and Martin in his home with Joan. Under the influence of drink and drugs, Lee attempts a "William Tell routine" on his wife by attempting to shoot a glass off her head with a pistol. He misses badly and accidentally shoots her in the head. Retreating to a seedy dive bar, Lee meets a hustler who introduces him to a Mugwump. The Mugwump congratulates Lee on completing his "assignment" and tells him to buy a Clark Nova typewriter to write a report on Joan's death. He also gives Lee a ticket to Interzone. Lee trades his pistol for a Clark Nova at a pawn shop and says his farewells to Martin, before heading to Interzone to write his report. At Interzone, Lee meets Hans, who owns a factory that creates a drug made from the meat of giant centipedes, called black meat. Lee tries the drug and starts to have more hallucinations. He once again hallucinates the giant bug, this time in the form of his Clark Nova typewriter. Later, Lee becomes acquainted with Tom Frost and his wife Joan, but, still under the influence of drugs, he is unable to enjoy the night out with the two and leaves. Lee is found on a beach the next morning by Yves Cloquet, an eccentric Swiss man who invites Lee to breakfast. Over the meal, Lee admits to having homosexual tenancies and Cloquet makes a move on him, but Lee abruptly leaves. He meets Tom and Joan again in the cafe, and Tom lends Lee his Martinelli typewriter. Lee takes the typewriter home and briefly uses it, but after taking more drugs he hallucinates both the Clark Nova and the Martinelli in insect form, with the Clark Nova viciously attacking the Martinelli, which he claims is an agent of Interzone Incorporated. The Martinelli is destroyed and the Clark Nova instructs Lee to seduce Joan Frost for his next report. Lee goes to Tom Frost's house and finds Frost absent. After he confesses to Joan that the Martinelli was destroyed, the two begin writing with Frost's Mujahaddin typewriter and end up having sex. Frost's housekeeper Fadela bursts in and throws the Mujahaddin out of the window just as Tom is returning home. Frost's servant Hafid finds a small object which he claims Fadela is using to control Joan's actions. Outside, Lee and Joan see Fadela serving large amounts of the black meat. He concludes that Fadela is working for Interzone Inc. Back at his apartment, Lee begins to write his second report. After drinking heavily and taking more drugs, he again hallucinates the giant Clark Nova bug, who claims that Lee was programmed by his employers to kill his wife, and that Joan Lee's handler was Fadela. Their discussion is interrupted when a furious Tom Frost bursts in and holds Lee at gunpoint, demanding his Martinelli back. Hafid finds the Martinelli destroyed and so Frost steals Lee's Clark Nova as compensation. Feeling unsafe in his own home, Lee finds himself sleeping on the beach again, and is found by Martin and Hank, who have traveled to Interzone to visit him regarding a series of letters he apparently sent them. The letters contain the drafts for a book entitled "Naked Lunch". Lee denies any knowledge of the book and insists that it is the work of Interzone Inc., but Hank and Martin advise him to get the book published. They then leave Interzone and beg Lee to return to the United States once he has finished the book. Alone and in despair, Lee is befriended by a homosexual hustler named Kiki, who takes the remains of the Martinelli to a repairman. The repaired Martinelli takes the form of the "Mugwriter", a disembodied Mugwump head that acts as Lee's new typewriter and handler. The next morning, Lee continues writing his report, and is told by the Mugwriter that Dr. Benway is the man behind Interzone Inc. The Mugwriter instructs Lee to get close to Cloquet, who may have information on Benway. At Cloquet's mansion, Lee finds out from Cloquet that Benway and Fadela are "intimates". Cloquet makes several unsuccessful attempts to seduce Kiki. Lee leaves to go to the lavatory, leaving Kiki alone with Cloquet, and, after taking some drugs, he returns to find Cloquet, now in the form of a giant humanoid centipede, raping and killing Kiki in a giant parrot cage. Terrified, Lee escapes back to his apartment and accuses the Mugwriter of double-crossing him. He takes the Mugwriter to Tom Frost and suggests a trade-back for his Clark Nova. Frost agrees to the deal. Upon return, Lee finds the Clark Nova severely damaged and "dying". In his last words, Clark Nova reveals that Fadela is operating Interzone Inc. from Hans' abandoned factory. Lee enters the factory to find a large number of Mugwumps chained from the ceilings and having their addictive "jism" extracted from their antenna. Enemies of Interzone Inc., including Hans, are held prisoner. Lee finds Joan being forced to work for Fadela. When he confronts Fadela, she reveals that she is actually Dr. Benway in disguise. Benway proposes to Lee that if he joins Interzone Inc., he can have something in return. Lee chooses to free Joan and travel with her to Annexia for his first assignment with Interzone Inc. At the Annexian borders, Lee is asked for identification, so he inexplicably repeats the same "William Tell routine" that he tried with Joan Lee, with the same fatal outcome. He is then allowed passage into Annexia. Behind the scenes Many of the characteristics and experiences of "William Lee" are based on William S. Burroughs' life. As a young man, Lee met and lived with Joan Vollmer, and, after a night of heavy drink and drug usage, Burroughs attempted to imitate a William Tell-type act by shooting a glass off Vollmer's head. He missed and shot her in the head, killing her. Although Burroughs avoided jail, the ordeal became a pivotal event in his life and he later claimed he never would have become a writer if it were not for his wife's death. In the early 50's, Lee moved to Tangier, Morocco, which was at the time known as the "Tangier International Zone". Burroughs referred to it in his works as the "Interzone" and his experiences in Tangier provided the outline for the majority of David Cronenberg's film. Many of the characters in the film are based on real people that Burroughs met in Tangier and elsewhere. In Tangier, Burroughs wrote a selection of short drafts that he sent to his friend and fellow authors Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. These drafts would be compiled and published as one of Burroughs' most famous books, Naked Lunch.